


Light

by Pheynix_Fire



Series: 100 Themes Challenge [3]
Category: Castlevania 64, 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Gen, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-25 05:16:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12523832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pheynix_Fire/pseuds/Pheynix_Fire
Summary: Rosa has been able to resist the vampire's curse thus far, but she knows that cannot last.





	Light

**Author's Note:**

> Castlevania 64 needs more love that it gets.

  
Rosa had seen several hunters pass through the Villa in the weeks since the vampire--Dracula himself, or so she had been told--had bitten her. The first had been a pair of twin brothers who had come to rescue their kidnapped younger sister. They had been competent swordsmen, worked well as a team, and seemed to know what they were up against. A day later, she had seen them again, and the sight had broken her heart. Ashen grey with fangs and claws, the vampire's curse had claimed them quickly. All the other so-called hunters had been so laughably incompetent she hadn't even bothered to introduce herself to them. Even Charlie Vincent, formidable though his knowledge of the undead clearly was, had no hope. His lack of combat prowess compelled him to rely far too heavily on holy artifacts, and his arrogance would be his undoing. 

Reinhardt was the first that gave her any sense of hope that the vampire lord would ever be defeated. She saw him the first time while standing near the entrance to the rose garden and knew there was something different about him immediately. All the previous hunters carried with them a scent of fear. No matter how much confidence they tried to project, they were still humans in a lair full of vampires. They were prey, and deep down, they knew it. Reinhardt had no such smell of fear clinging to him. As she watched him, she caught the scent of his blood, and it filled her mind with fleeting images of quiet moments of reflection in elegant churches, long vigils kept over isolated villages on cold, moonless nights, grueling training sessions with both sword and whip.... 

Wait a minute. A whip?

She remembered rumors she had heard from the other vampires of a holy lineage of warriors who had hunted creatures of the night for centuries. Supposedly whenever Dracula was resurrected, one their number would always appear to slay him. The rumors stated that these hunters, these Belmonts, fought with a special whip. Could this be that hunter? Rosa decided to test him. She ventured into the garden and began watering her roses. 

"Who are you," he asked. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

"I'm Rosa. I look after the flowers here." She waited for him to take a better look at her.

"You...you're a vampire," he asked, more startled than frightened. Rosa paused, tense and waiting for the battle to begin. Surely, he would attack her now that he knew what she was. But, he merely stood there, calmly watching her.

"Why aren't you afraid of me? Surely you realize only vampires and demons haunt this place."

"But, you're different from those evil creatures. Besides, I've been trained never to harm the weak." His protest sounded so sweet to Rosa's ears. Was it possible that he sensed something within her that was still human? Rosa wanted to believe it but didn't dare. In a place like Castlevania, what good was hope?

"Your sentimentality will only get you killed," she chided him. "You should flee while you still can."

"I can't do that." Reinhardt shook his head. "It is the destiny of my bloodline to destroy Dracula." Rosa smiled at that. _So he_ is _the Belmont._

"Very well then. If you want to succeed, you will need to visit the Castle Archives. A previous adventurer has the key, so you'll have to retrieve it from him. Good luck."

 

Two days later, Rosa was wandering through the tunnels beneath the Castle feeling despondent. One of the other vampires had learned Reinhardt's surname and told her. It was Schneider. He wasn't the hoped for Belmont, after all. She should have known better than to get her hopes up. Dracula would only grow more powerful as the days and weeks passed, and Rosa knew it. She also knew that she couldn't fight against her cursed condition forever. She had been very lucky so far to retain so much of her humanity, but she knew it couldn't last. And no hunter strong enough to defeat Dracula was coming. She would be forced to feel the last of her humanity drain away and then spend all of eternity as a cursed creature. 

No. There had to be a way out of such a fate.

Up ahead, Rosa saw sunlight streaming in through a hole in the cavern's roof. She walked to it and stood just outside of its reach. Every instinct within her screamed for her to back away, but she refused to listen. Steeling her nerves, she took a step into the light. Within seconds, she could feel it burning her skin. The pain was far greater than she had anticipated, but she refused to yield. _Just a few more minutes. It doesn't take long for sunlight to kill a vampire._

Suddenly, there were strong arms around her torso pulling her back, and a familiar voice cried out, "Stop! Don't be a fool."

"Don't stop me," she hissed back as she struggled against his hold. "Why are you trying to save me? I'm a vampire."

"That doesn't matter. God forbids suicide." Rosa gave a rueful snort.

"Even for a cursed being like me?" Reinhardt spun her around to face him.

"Yes. Even for you. _Especially_ for you." He reached up to brush a stray strand of her hair out of her eyes. "You aren't the evil creature you imagine yourself to be, Rosa. I'm sure of it." She tried to pull away but stopped when he put his hand on her shoulder. Everything about his manner was so gentle that she found herself unable to pull away from his touch. "Do you know, you're the only vampire I've met in this place who hasn't attacked me on sight? That tells me that your heart is still human. Do you understand?" 

Trembling and with tears running down her cheeks, Rosa could only nod at first. Finally she said, "I won't remain human for much longer. Eventually the curse will claim me, and I'll be forced to serve Dracula forever."

"No. I won't let that happen," he said. "I'm here to kill Dracula, remember?" 

"How can you be so certain you can defeat him? You're not a Belmont. I heard your name is Schneider." Reinhardt only laughed. 

"Is that what worries you," he asked. "My mother is a Belmont, and I learned how to hunt vampires from my grandfather." "I'll be able to stop him, I promise you. He reached up to wipe away her tears. "Will you promise me something in return?" She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

"If you can stop Dracula, anything." Reinhardt gestured toward to shaft of sunlight.

"Please, don't do anything like this again." Rosa could only smile.

"I promise." 


End file.
